“I’m sorry and I’m ready to do whatever needs to be done to make this right”.

Or....

“I’m sorry I got caught”.

Both examples are capable of producing tears; but there is a huge difference between the two, as I’m sure you know.

And for the record: ‘being sorry’ or saying one is ‘sorry’ or even feeling genuine sorrow is NOT....repenting. It can be an ‘apology’, where one may feel regret or sorrow and even a sense of loss over something done or maybe something one failed to do; but that still is not repentance.

What we are talking about here has to do with what the Bible explains is the difference between ‘godly sorrow’ and ‘worldly sorrow’.

Paul had written a letter to the church at Corinth, and had some hard issues to deal with in bringing about some ‘correction’. There was much carnality and division in the church at the time (1 Cor. 3:1-3), there was some gross immoral sin taking place that was not being dealt with (5:1-8), the communion practice had become something other than what it was intended for which brought about God’s judgments of sickness and death, (11:27-32) and then of course there was some misuse and abuse of spiritual giftings. (13:1-3; 14)

I think we are constantly reminded these days, that when there is a failure on the part of church leadership to deal with sin issues head-on, thoroughly and in a godly manner, that neglecting such issues will come back to haunt us. (Numb. 32:23). But dealing with sin does not mean we are having public stonings either. Jesus actually gave some very specific instruction on how sin needed to be dealt with, and even a follow up plan if the one being ‘corrected’ was not that receptive. (Matt. 18:15-17; Gal. 6:1)

Fortunately, for the believers at Corinth, they responded in a favorable manner to Paul’s first letter, which prompted a second follow up letter where he commended them on some of their issues that they had addressed. You can read there in that second letter, (7:8-12) where he acknowledge ‘making them sorry with his letter’ (8) but...he now was rejoicing because their sorrow “led to repentance”. (9)

He then explains the difference between the two in how ‘godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation’ but ‘worldly sorrow produces death.” (10). And if you read through that too quickly, you’ll miss it- Godly sorrow produces repentance which....”leads to salvation”.

And when we speak of ‘salvation’, we are talking about what Jesus came to do: He came not to condemn us (we were all condemned already-John 3:18; Eph. 2:1-3), rather, He came to ‘save us’. (John 3:17). It also bears worth repeating - it is the ‘wrath of God’ that we are ‘saved from’. (Rom. 5:9)

God set a law in place which He expected His people to follow, warning them that if they broke that law, which is what ‘sin’ is, (1 John 3:4) then they could expect there to be consequences. And since ‘all of us had sinned’ (Rom. 3:23), the ‘wrath of God was on us all’. (John 3:36). Oh, in case you have not picked up on this nugget of truth yet, God uses Satan and the powers of darkness to carry out His wrath...or ‘consequences/curses’. (Ps. 78:49-50). That is why Jesus gave that man whom He healed a ‘heads up’ about not sinning anymore or something worse could happen to him. (John 5:14; Matt. 12:43-45)

Since the law was not done away with (Matt. 5:17; 1 Tim. 1:8-10; Rom. 2:13), the breaking of this law continues to still bring wrath. (Gal. 3:17,19; Rom. 4:15; Eph. 5:6). So exactly how...does Jesus ‘save us from God’s wrath’? He sets us free, literally, from the power of sin so we need no longer to remain a slave of sin, empowering us with His grace to ‘go and sin no more’. (John 8:34-36; Rom. 6; John 8:11; Titus 2:11-13). Remember....God has never changed. (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8)

But before any of this can begin to happen, there has to be genuine repentance first. And how can there be any true repentance if there is no ‘godly sorrow’ preceding it which produces this repentance. And if there is no repentance, then there is no salvation and we remain condemned. Remember, it was Jesus who taught “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish’. (Luke 13:3,5)

Would you care to know why there is little ‘godly sorrow’ produced in our churches today? It’s because we’ve had an influx of ‘other gospels’ presented to us that has been ‘watered down’, as in diluted to make people feel more ‘comfortable’. This should come as no surprise given what we read in scripture warning us of this day that would come. (2 Cor. 11:3-4; 2 Tim. 4:1-5; Jer. 23:16-20; Matt. 24:4-5,11,24)

I know - people already feel ‘beat down’ so when they come to our church we are all about ‘lifting them up’ and ‘edifying’ them, reassuring them how much God loves them and has a wonderful plan for their life...etc. Being made to feel good about one's self is important. So they receive an invitation to ‘walk and aisle, make a decision, and ‘accept Christ as Savior’ so they can go fulfill their destiny in God. No need to bring in all that ‘heavy stuff’ that might actually produce godly sorrow, not to mention godly fear.

And friends...let me clarify something here because I think many people have been brought up or were exposed to a ‘counterfeit’ type of preaching and message that was supposed to produce this kind of fruit. It was a constant beating down of the saints, making them feel like worthless worms who would never be able to please an angry God so they spent many frustrating years groveling like the wretched sinners they were doing their best to ‘get right’. This is NOT what we are talking about here.

We are told that the ‘fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’. (Prov. 9:10; 1:7). It is the lack of knowledge that leads to the destruction of God’s people. (Hosea 4:6). And the ‘fear of the Lord’ is something that we must be ‘taught’, as opposed to coerced to feel and experience through emotional manipulation. (Ps. 34:11)

And it’s not rocket science either, friends. We just have fallen short in declaring the ‘whole counsel of God’ (acts 20:27) because who has time to just really sit down and wade through all this heavy stuff today...we have lives to live and businesses to run and games to play while we ‘eat, drink, and be merry’. Seems that is what was happening back in the days of Noah and the days of Lot before all hell broke loose. (Luke 17:26-37; Matt. 22:1-7; Luke 14:18).

People don’t want to be burdened down with ‘doom, gloom, and wrath’ and be taught about how we need to be ‘holy as God is holy’. (1 Pet. 1:14-16). Things have not changed much from even back in the days of Isaiah when he was being rebuked by God’s people who wanted him to get off that message of holiness and ‘tell them smooth things’, even if it meant telling them lies. (Isa. 30:9-11). And what does Paul warn us about in 2 Thess. 2:9-12?

So back to this topic of ‘godly sorrow producing repentance...which leads to salvation’; this falls in line with what John the Baptist came preaching. He spoke of the coming wrath, which Paul says is ‘already being revealed’ (Rom. 1:18) and the need to ‘flee from, that we might bear fruits of repentance’. (Matt. 3:7-12). Unfortunately, that message was heard by the 'learned' religious crowd who were incredulous that a message of repentance would even be directed at them.

*News Fash* - True repentance produces genuine change and transformation; as in ‘super natural’ transformation that begins within the broken heart of a repentant sinner. But one does not remain a sinner when they truly repent and begin to abide in Jesus. (1 John 2:3-6; 3:6-9; 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:1-3)

And I will be the first one to admit to you, that I marvel over not understanding fully why some people ‘get it’, and others don’t. Why do some scoff, while others like Peter or Zacchaeus, or even the prodigal son are broken and willing to surrender all and be changed. (Luke 5:8; 9:1-10; 15:17-19). Why were a group of uneducated fishermen willing to lay their nets aside, leaving all to follow Jesus, while the influential young and wealthy ruler was reluctant. (Matt. 4:18-22; 19:21-22)

Jesus would explain in multiple places that there would just be those, and apparently a lot of them’ who would opt out for the wider, more traveled road that actually leads to destruction, (Matt. 7:13-14) explaining in another place that people just would not come to the light because they loved the darkness more, unwilling to lay down their carnal, sinful lives. (John 3:19-21). And he made no attempts to cover up or sugar-coat what was involved in following Him either. (Luke 14:26-33). And when He says ‘darkness’, He’s talking about an unwillingness to lay down their old ways.(Eph. 2:1-3; 1 Cor. 6:9-11) Meanwhile, modern 'gospels' attempt to convince us that nobody is perfect, God understands, and you can still hold on to that carnal ‘old man’ and still go to heaven.

Have you ever been to see a doctor and had to take a bunch of tests because you know something was ‘not right’ within in you, and when the results come back and you see the grim face of your doctor, you just know the news is not good? If you suspect he/she begins to tap-dance around delivering the ‘bad news’, most folks will look that doctor in the eye and request that they ‘tell it to me straight and don’t water this down!’. When it comes to something as serious as our health, we want the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Agreed? Why is this? Because you cannot adequately prepare a plan of action unless you have all the details.

Obviously, for many people, when that grim news comes, there is no ‘plan of action’, there is no remedy, there is no ‘good news’ to hear after you have been told the ‘bad news’.

Let me tell you what we are experiencing today in the church: We have a shortage of preachers who are unwilling to ‘tell it to us straight’. There is probably a variety of reasons for that and I lean in the direction of it being more out of ignorance than it is malicious intent - as in ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’, but there is nor shortage of them as well. (Matt. 7:15; Acts 20:29)

What I have been trying to communicate here the past several years is we have not been fully told the ‘whole counsel’ of God and the situation at hand is far more serious than most have been willing to believe, let alone embrace. And in the same way you might not like the news the doctor has told you, nor the results of the tests (2 Cor. 13:5), it’s easy to go in to ‘denial mode’ and even seek after a second opinion. I get it. But before you go seek out someone else who will ‘tickle your ears’ (2 Tim. 4:3-4), why not seek out that opinion from God’s word, like they did at Berea and study it for yourself.(Acts 17:11). God’s not going to lie.

But here’s the ‘kicker’ that ought to give you some hope. Do you know why the word ‘gospel’ means ‘good news’? There’s actually a remedy for the bad news; but there is more to it than taking some small sugar-coated faith pill and all will be well with your soul. We don’t even fully appreciate the ‘good news’ of the gospel because we have not fully understood the ‘bad news’.

Truth be told, we can’t really appreciate ‘good news’ until we have heard the bad news first. If I tell you a fire truck just pulled up in front of your house, that is simply ‘news’. If I tell you this is not only news, but ‘great news’, you might ask why? When I tell you the ‘bad news’ that your house is on fire...everything starts to make more sense. Too many gospels out there today are nothing more than a placebo to make folks feel comfortable as they continue on living in sin. But the gospel Jesus came preaching, and those early saints were preaching, was the ‘real deal’ that came with ‘power’(Rom. 1:16) to transform lives and see people set free from sin. It was called ‘truth’ and we know what truth does...it sets people free. (John 8:34-36)

And when I say most people have been told they can/will still ‘live according to the flesh’ and still go to heaven, I’m telling you we’ve been lied to. Here’s the bad news nobody wants to talk about:

Romans 8:13 – Those who continue to live according to the flesh will die.

Gal. 5:19-21 – Those who continue to practice the sins of the flesh will NOT inherit the kingdom of God.

Gal. 5:24 – Those who do actually belong to Christ HAVE PUT TO DEATH the flesh along with its passions and desires.

Tomorrow...let's explore further just how this 'good news' applies to you... IF...you want to be made well. (John 5:6)